


remember me like this

by totallyunrelated



Category: The Dark Artifices Series - Cassandra Clare, The Infernal Devices Series - Cassandra Clare, The Last Hours Series - Cassandra Clare, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare
Genre: F/F, F/M, Fluff, Gen, mina's powers, reuniting with dead siblings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-29
Updated: 2020-07-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:09:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25588042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/totallyunrelated/pseuds/totallyunrelated
Summary: Mina Carstairs's warlock powers manifest with unexpected results, bringing Lucie, James and Will Herondale to the twenty-first century.
Relationships: James Herondale & Lucie Herondale, James Herondale & Mina Carstairs, Jem Carstairs/Tessa Gray/Will Herondale, Lucie Herondale & Mina Carstairs, Mina Carstairs & Will Herondale
Comments: 16
Kudos: 90





	remember me like this

_I wish I had a big sister,_ thought Mina Carstairs, not for the first time. She rolled over in her bed, reaching for the photo on her nightstand, which depicted a black-and-white portrait of a brunette girl (though you couldn’t see that in the photo) seated at a desk, pen in her hand, poised to write. This was Lucie Herondale, Mina’s much-coveted older sister - though she had been born nearly a century ago and had passed away long before Mina was born. The frame was a dual frame, meant to hold two photos; in the other was a boy who looked about a year or two older than Lucie, with windswept black hair and a grim smile. This was James Herondale, Lucie’s older brother. His eyes were golden, like Mina’s Uncle Jace’s were, or so she’d been told. (Uncle Jace was actually her great-great-great-however-many-greats-nephew, descended from James. Yeah. It blew her mind too.) James and Lucie were her half-siblings on her mother Tessa’s side, had lived nearly a century ago when Tessa had been married to her first husband Will Herondale, Mina’s father’s _parabatai_. Her family tree was very, very complicated. It would have been a nightmare to draw out in school projects, if she had ever gone to mundane school.

To some people, it might have seemed creepy and strange that she kept photos of her dead siblings on her nightstand. But Mina had grown up hearing bedtime stories about them, had idolized them ever since she could remember. She had always wanted to meet them, Lucie especially, since she had never had an older sister but already had an older brother, Kit, who was the best brother she could ever ask for. They had been her childhood heroes, her favourite stories to hear. Tessa said she used to tell everyone who would listen that when she grew up she wanted to be Lucie Herondale, who was a dreamer and a writer but could still kick ass. Her mother was always so happy when she talked about her siblings; she had always wanted Mina to see Uncle Will, James and Lucie as family even though she would never meet them. _They live on in here_ , she told Mina, placing a hand over Mina’s heart. _And in the stories we tell, so we will never forget them._

On this particular day Mina was having love problems and had no one to talk to about them. Jem and Tessa were attending a meeting in New York, which she hadn’t wanted to go to because the source of her problem laid in New York and she wasn’t ready to face it yet. Her big brother Kit was somewhere in the house, presumably FaceTiming Ty - he’d been home for the weekend and volunteered to babysit, though Mina argued that she was sixteen and therefore old enough to stay in the house by herself - but he would tease her to no end and, as proved by his own love life, he was not in a position to give good advice. (Yes, he was married to Ty Blackthorn now, but everyone knew about the mess that had happened when they were seventeen.) She supposed she could wait for her parents to get back, she knew she could talk to them about anything, but some part of her shrunk at the thought, because that was just _embarrassing_. She didn’t really want her parents knowing too many details about her love life (or lack thereof). So that left her brooding in her room.

She sighed again, then leaned over and rummaged through her nightstand, hands scrabbling through her messy drawer until she found what she was looking for. Tessa had given her Lucie’s favourite pen when she was ten years old, something to help her feel closer to her sister. It was nothing special, just an antique gold ballpoint pen, the colour faded with use and age, but it was one of Mina’s most cherished possessions, along with her brother James’s matchbook, given to him by her father. Twirling the pen in her hand, she flopped back down on her bed, grabbing her phone in her other hand and picking through her songs on Spotify. She closed her eyes, letting herself get lost in the music. 

Strangely, Lucie’s pen felt warm in her hand. Behind her closed eyelids, she could see the silhouette of a girl holding the pen. She reached out to touch her, and memories that did not belong to her flashed through her mind. 

_She was holding on to another girl’s arm, dangling off the edge of a cliff, red hair filling her vision. “Hold on, Lucie,” a voice echoed…_

_There was a black-haired boy in front of her. “What are you?” she demanded…_

_She was facing a golden-haired boy in front of a room of people, heart full of love…_

Mina sat bolt upright, gasping. That girl - 

Was right in front of her. Hovering in front of her, form pale, see-through. She could see her door clearly through her.

Mina barely stopped herself from screaming. She stared, wide-eyed, at the ghost who had suddenly appeared in her room. The ghost who looked familiar … 

Her eyes strayed to the photo on her nightstand. Then back to the ghost. Heart in her throat, she peered more closely at the ghost, who was studying her just as intensely. 

“Lucie?” she breathed. 

Lucie Herondale smiled, a smile that made her look like Tessa. The resemblance really was uncanny. The only thing that was different were her eyes, a pretty shade of pale blue. “You must be Mina Carstairs. I’m Lucie Herondale. Your sister.”

“How…” breathed Mina. She didn’t finish her question; she had far too many of them. _How did you get here? How do you know who I am? How is this even possible?_

Lucie drifted closer. Her feet didn’t touch the ground. She moved like she was unused to it, though she was still graceful in her movements. It was evident that she didn’t spend much time as a ghost. And why would she? She’d had a good life, died peacefully surrounded by friends and family. She would have no unfinished business that necessitated a ghostly existence. Mina wondered what it meant that she was here now. Had she somehow disturbed her sister’s eternal rest? Guilt sank deep into the pit of her stomach and lodged there, like a rock.

“Well, first of all, I am so pleased to finally be able to meet you,” said Lucie. She was perched on Mina’s bed now, managing not to sink through it and looking very pleased with herself. “I’ve always wanted a little sister, you know. When I heard that Mama and Uncle Jem had you, I was ecstatic. I wanted so badly to come see you, but I couldn’t.” She smiled a sad smile.

Despite everything, happiness was bubbling within Mina. How many times had she wished she could talk to Lucie? And now she was here, really here, albeit as a ghost, and it was even better than she had imagined. “I always wanted to meet you,” she said eagerly. “Mum always told me stories about you and James, you know. I wanted to be just like you when I grew up.”

Lucie looked at her, eyes shining. “That is so sweet,” she said. “I wish we’d been given the chance to grow up together. I would have loved you so much. I would have taught you everything I knew.”

“I am so happy that you’re here,” Mina said. But then the smile slipped off her face as she remembered that Lucie was definitely not supposed to be here. “But how did you get here?”

Lucie folded her arms in thought. “I believe it is because of your powers,” she said.

“Powers? I don’t have powers,” Mina said doubtfully. 

“How old are you?” asked Lucie.

“Sixteen.”

Lucie nodded, as if her suspicions had been confirmed. “James and I both had powers. His manifested early, while he was at the Shadowhunter Academy, but I didn’t find out about mine until I was about your age. It was quite a shock, too, learning that I could control the dead.” She shuddered, eyes faraway, lost in a memory. “Like you, I thought I was perfectly normal before that. So yes, I believe this is a sign of your powers showing themselves.”

“What kind of powers do you think I have?” Mina asked, beginning to get excited. She’d heard stories about her siblings having powers and had always secretly longed for powers of her own, even though her mother had always told her that they weren’t guaranteed, that a lot of things were unknown about them because of who Tessa was. And these new powers didn’t seem scary, like James’s or Lucie’s were. If they brought her sister to her, they couldn’t be bad, right?

“Well, this is just a theory, but they may be similar to Mama’s,” Lucie mused. “Mama could connect with the imprint a person left behind on an object and Change into them. I believe that your powers might be similar, except that you call the imprint out instead of merging with it. Essentially, this-” She gestured to her body. “-is the imprint that my soul left behind on that pen.”

“So you’re not a ghost?” asked Mina.

“No, I don’t think so. Not exactly,” said Lucie. “But then again, I wouldn’t know what being a ghost felt like.”

Mina laughed. It felt so good to be able to talk with Lucie, get to know her through more than old stories from Tessa.

“So what are things like here, in the twenty-first century?” asked Lucie curiously. “Are there self-driving motorcars now, like Papa always warned us about?”

Mina laughed. “They’re being developed, I think,” she said, giggling at the horror-stricken look on Lucie’s face. “Oh, and this is a phone.” She picked up her phone from where it lay forgotten on the bed, still playing tinny music, and showed it to Lucie, who frowned. 

“What’s a phone? And why are there sounds coming out of it?”

“It’s for calling people,” explained Mina. “So you can contact people without seeing them. Oh, and text them. It’s like a letter, but you get it instantly.”

“Fascinating,” murmured Lucie, her expression one of wonder. Mina swiped through her phone, smiling at Lucie’s fascination. Showing modern technology to Lucie really made her appreciate just how far society had come since her sister had been alive, but it also made her melancholy to know that Lucie would never be able to truly experience the wonders that modern technology had to offer.

“And what of you?” Lucie queried. “I would like to get to know you more, Mina. What is your life like here?”

This was truly everything Mina had wanted and more. A chance to talk to her sister, share her experiences with her and get advice from someone with much more wisdom than she. They spent the next few hours talking about anything and everything, from Mina’s childhood to her father’s exit from the Silent Brothers, which Lucie found fascinating. “If only we knew that heavenly fire was the cure,” she sighed. “But then again, where would we have gotten heavenly fire? And without everything happening as it did, I would never have gotten to meet you.”

“Everything happens for a reason,” Mina agreed.

“And what of boys? Is there anyone who has caught your fancy?” Lucie raised an eyebrow, smirking. Mina blushed tomato red.

“Um. Girl, actually,” she mumbled, not daring to look up at Lucie. She was, after all, from a time period where such things were not encouraged, were frowned upon, even. Mina wasn’t sure how she’d react, but she didn’t want to lie about her identity to her sister.

Lucie surprised her, though. She clapped her hands in glee. “Even better, then!” she declared. “Boys are annoying and fickle. And you needn’t be ashamed, you know. It is perfectly normal. I knew many people who had interests outside what was considered socially acceptable.”

“Really?” Mina asked shyly, relaxing. 

“Of course. My cousin Anna Lightwood, and Matthew Fairchild, to name a few,” Lucie nodded. “So, tell me about this girl.” She leaned closer conspiratorially. 

Giggling, Mina acquiesced. “Well, her name is Georgia Lightwood,” she began. “She lives in the New York Institute, and her parents are friends with mine. She’s a year younger than me.”

“The Lightwoods are a good lot,” said Lucie. “Some of my closest friends were Lightwoods.”

“We’re pretty good friends,” Mina continued. “She’s absolutely lethal with a whip, and I can never ever win a sparring match with her because she just looks so pretty when she’s concentrating, and…” She broke off, realising she was rambling, and blushed. Lucie smiled encouragingly. She had shifted so she was lying front-first on Mina’s bed, legs crossed at the ankles and head propped up on her hands.

“But the thing is I get so tongue-tied whenever I see her, and last time I was at the Institute I tripped while we were sparring and accidentally kissed her, and then I just fled and now I’m scared to see her again,” she groaned, covering her face with her hands. “And we’ve been texting like it never happened, and I’m so scared…”

“If she does not like you, it is her loss,” Lucie declared. “Anyone would be so lucky to have you, Mina. There is someone out there who will love you and treat you as you deserve to be, and it may be Georgia or it may not, but you will never know unless you try.”

There was a knock on her door, and Mina sat up in a panic, looking over at Lucie. How would she explain the ghost on her bed to Kit? She wasn’t given the time to think of a plan, for Kit poked his head in when she neglected to answer. “Mina…?” he called, voice dying out when he caught sight of Lucie, still lying on Mina’s bed. “Mina! Who - what - _why_ is there a ghost on your bed?!”

Lucie waved cheerily, looking at the newcomer with interest. “Um - I can explain,” Mina stuttered, searching wildly for something to say.

“You better hope you can,” Kit muttered darkly, eyeing Lucie warily. He frowned, puzzled, as he took in her features. “And why does this ghost look familiar?”

“Oh - Kit, this is Lucie Herondale,” said Mina. “Luce, this is my big brother, Kit Herondale.”

“Herondale?” asked Lucie with interest. “Is he descended from Jamie, then?”

“Erm. Not quite,” said Kit, looking awkward. “It’s a long story. More importantly, how did you manage to summon _Lucie Herondale_ , Mina?”

Mina tried her best to explain her seemingly newfound powers to Kit, with Lucie helpfully interjecting when she hesitated, the other girl seeming to understand it much better than she did. Which made sense - Lucie had had an entire lifetime of experience with her own strange powers. When they finished, Kit looked appeased, if confused. 

“So is she just going to be - hanging around here from now on?” he asked, gesturing vaguely at Lucie.

Mina and Lucie looked at each other. Neither knew the answer to that, but Mina was desperately hoping that the answer was _yes_. “For as long as I can,” Lucie answered softly. Mina smiled, praying that her sister would be able to stay forever. 

“Hey, wait a minute,” said Lucie. She jumped to her feet, grinning madly like she’d just had the best idea ever. “You could summon Jamie and Papa here too, couldn’t you?”

Mina felt herself getting excited, imagining her mother’s reaction when she got home to find Will, James and Lucie waiting for her. “I don’t know how I did it with you, though,” she said as reality hit her, deflating slightly. Lucie was undeterred, though. 

“Do you have anything special of theirs?”

“This matchbook was James’s,” said Mina, reaching over to rummage in her drawer. She came away triumphant with the matchbook in her hand; Lucie’s face lit up in recognition. 

“Yes, that should do. He kept that on him at all time,” she said. “Try it. Close your eyes and reach for the imprint of his soul.”

She did as she was asked, squeezing her eyes shut and concentrating on the matchbook. For a minute, nothing happened, and she was about to sigh in disappointment, but then it grew warm in her hand. She held her breath, searching for the silhouette behind closed eyelids. She was distantly aware of Kit’s anxious voice in the background and Lucie’s voice answering calmly, and blocked them out, focusing on the silhouette that hovered just out of sight. She reached out to touch him and memories flooded into her - 

_A redheaded girl reading to her in a dimly lit room, her voice like a lilting melody…_

_Agonising pain as she stared at a pale, blond-haired girl, her face like marble…_

_A silver bracelet around her wrist, stamped with the words_ LOYALTY BINDS ME _…_

Even before she opened her eyes she knew who she would find standing over her. She heard Lucie gasp in delight and Kit muttering “Oh my god” in a shocked tone.

“James!” squealed Lucie, hurling herself at her brother. She collided with him, almost sending them both to the ground. James grunted, holding her upright and focusing his gaze on Mina.

“Lucie?” His tone was confused. “Mina?”

“How do you know who I am?” Mina asked. It was strange that both James and Lucie knew who she was, when they had no way of getting news from the earthly plane, or so she assumed. 

It was Lucie who answered. “When you saw our memories, we saw yours as well,” she said. “Not everything - just enough to tell us who you were.”

“You are - our sister?” asked James. He seemed more reserved than Lucie, preferring to observe and collect information, unlike Lucie, who was the spontaneous type.

Mina nodded meekly. James smiled at last, eyes crinkling at the corner. Like Lucie, he appeared about Mina’s age - sixteen or seventeen. “I am glad that Mam found happiness.” His eyes moved over to Kit, like he had just noticed him. “And who is this?”

“Kit,” said Kit. His eyes darted from James to Lucie, brow creased. 

“He’s my brother,” Mina piped up. “Adopted, I guess. But he’s my brother.” Kit smiled at her, the crease in his brow gone. She noted that he seemed strangely unsure of himself around the two ghosts, and realised abruptly that he might be questioning his place in Mina’s life now that her blood siblings had shown up. She wanted to throttle some sense into him. Regardless of James and Lucie’s relation to her, _he_ was the one she had grown up with, the one who had tucked her into bed, soothed her after a nightmare, sat with her when she cried. He would forever be her favourite sibling. No one would ever replace him.

“Papa next!” said Lucie, breaking through her reverie. She was almost bouncing with excitement now, cheered by the prospect of having her whole family in one place. 

“Lucie, we don’t even know how Mina’s powers work,” said James. “Is this really safe?”

“Oh, don’t be such a worrywart,” Lucie said, waving him off. “Nobody really knows anything about powers like ours. We should just take advantage of it while we can.”

James sighed an older-brother sigh, one that Mina was intimately familiar with for how much Kit used it. He and Kit shared a brief look, seeming to bond over the tiring job of being an older brother to little sisters who were rascals and never thought before doing anything.

“Do you have anything of Papa’s?” Lucie asked.

“Mum keeps his wedding ring in her room,” Mina recalled. Whenever her mother or father talked about Will Herondale, they always became melancholy, so she rarely asked, but sometimes she would get bits and pieces out of them. She led them across the hall to her parents’ room. They surely made for a strange sight, an adult, a teenager and two ghosts all walking together. There were old, faded pictures of James, Lucie, Will, and other assorted family members hanging on the walls, as well as newer, coloured pictures of Tessa, Jem, Mina and Kit, and even some of Julian and Emma, Clary and Jace, and the Blackthorns. James and Lucie stopped frequently to look at the pictures, pointing out their friends and family to Mina and Kit. There was a wedding photo of James and Cordelia Carstairs, who Mina recognised as the redheaded girl she’d gotten glimpses of in both James and Lucie’s memories; James ran a reverent hand over her features, smile softening. Lucie pointed out one of her, James and Cordelia with three other boys, who Mina learned were the Merry Thieves, a nickname given to James’s group of friends, consisting of Matthew Fairchild, Thomas Lightwood and Christopher Lightwood. She vaguely recognised Matthew Fairchild as someone who had also appeared in both James and Lucie’s memories, which made sense as he was James’s _parabatai_ and Lucie’s husband. There was a large family photo of Will, Tessa, James and Lucie hung right opposite the stairwell that led to the second floor, next to a newer photo of Jem, Tessa, Kit and Mina. The four of them stopped before the photos for a moment, past and present clashing.

In Jem and Tessa’s room, Mina and Kit searched through drawers for the ring while James and Lucie drifted around the room, taking in the sleek modern feel of the room that was so very different from what they were used to. Guilt pricked at her as she opened her parents’ drawers, feeling that this was something she probably shouldn’t be doing, but she pushed it away. They would surely be grateful to see Will again, but … She slammed a drawer harder than necessary as she glimpsed lace and silk, blushing to her toes. That was something she _definitely_ did not need to know about her mother.

“Is this it?” called Kit, having somehow cracked the safe in their wardrobe. He was holding up a silver ring, shiny and gleaming. It was obvious that Tessa had taken great care to keep it in pristine condition. James and Lucie floated over.

“Does it say anything inside?” asked James. Kit peered into the ring.

“ _The last dream of my soul,_ ” he read out. 

Both James and Lucie smiled wistfully at the quote. “That’s the one,” said Lucie quietly. There was a moment of silence as they all stared at the ring, then Kit moved to place it in Mina’s hand. “Work your magic, Min-Min,” he said.

She closed her fist around the ring and breathed in deep. This time, the silhouette appeared much faster, and she smiled as she touched his shoulder lightly.

_Tessa’s face glowed as she looked down at her. She was radiant in a golden dress…_

_She was chasing a much younger James through the halls of an Institute…_

_A hooded figure stood before her…_

That hooded figure had once been her father. She felt an immeasurable sadness as she looked at him out of Will’s eyes, the distance between them yawning wide like a chasm she could not cross.

“Jamie? Lucie?” said Will. He looked around, jaw dropping at the large wedding photo of Tessa and Jem hanging on the wall above the dresser. “Is that…?”

Mina stepped forward. “Hi, Uncle Will,” she said timidly. “I’m Mina Carstairs. My parents are Jem Carstairs and Tessa Gray.”

Will’s eyes filled with tears. “Jem,” he whispered half to himself. He looked back at the photo, the awe in his eyes clear for all to see. “I … how?”

So she told him everything, from Jem’s transformation by way of heavenly fire to how her powers had suddenly manifested that morning. James and Lucie hovered by him, giving him their silent support, taking in the information silently. Kit hovered awkwardly by the doorway, watching them. She wanted to tell him to come join them, but explaining his existence might be more than Will could take right now.

Will looked dazed when she finished. “Heavenly fire…” he muttered, almost to himself. “We would never have thought of that.”

Lucie floated in front of him, determined to cheer him up. “I finally have a little sister now,” she said. “The one you and Mama would never give me.”

James snorted. Will turned to Mina. “My Tessa and my Jem,” he murmured, looking her over. “Perfection.”

Mina smiled shyly. Lucie crossed her arms. “I am your daughter and you have never once said that to me,” she declared. 

“That is because you are a brat,” Will said lightly. James snorted again. Lucie looked offended, though Mina could tell that they were just teasing. 

“Say, where are Mam and Uncle Jem?” asked James, cutting Lucie off before she could retort. 

“They are in New York for a meeting,” said Mina. “They should be back tomorrow, I think.”

“They are going to get the shock of their lives,” said Kit. “In fact, I should go check up on them.” He waved awkwardly and slipped out of the door.

“Who is that?” asked Will, looking after him.

“My brother Kit,” Mina explained. “He’s adopted. He’s a Herondale, actually, but that’s a long story for another time.”

“That sounds like an interesting story,” said Will. “I would like to hear it sometime.”

“How long can we even stay?” asked James, ever the practical one.

Mina shrugged, hoping that her power would come through in this. The idea of having all her family together had grown on her; she would be devastated if it turned out that they could only stay a short while. “As long as you want to.”

BONUS SCENE: TESSA

“Mina, Kit, we’re home!” Tessa called, shutting the door behind her. It was almost noon now; Magnus had insisted they stay for lunch before Portalling back to Devon. She passed her coat to Jem, smiling at him gratefully. Wandering into the kitchen, she stopped dead as she beheld the figure perched on a stool. She rubbed her eyes, blinking hard; but when she opened them the figure was still there. 

_It should be impossible_ . But there he was, larger than life, very real - if seethrough - and seated _in her kitchen_.

“Will?” she breathed, hardly daring to believe her eyes.

“Surprise!” said Will Herondale.

Tessa gaped at him, at a complete loss for words. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Mina poke her head into the kitchen, a sheepish smile on her face. “Mum, you won’t believe who’s here,” she began, and as if on cue, two more translucent figures drifted into the room. Tessa’s eyes widened at the sight of her long-dead children, smiling from ear-to-ear.

“How - what -” she stuttered, looking from Will to James to Lucie in complete disbelief. 

Jem’s arrival into the kitchen was signalled by a loud _thud_ as he dropped the grocery bags upon seeing the three ghosts occupying the room. Oranges rolled out onto the floor, but no one made a move to pick them up. For a moment they were a frozen tableau, twin expressions of shock on Tessa and Jem’s faces.

Jem only had eyes for his _parabatai_. He moved forward as if in a trance, unblinking, as if afraid that if he did Will would vanish. Will smiled, welcoming, serene.

“I told you we would meet again, James Carstairs.”

Jem blinked furiously, but tears still slipped out. “Is it really you, Will?”

“In the flesh,” confirmed Will. He looked down at himself with a frown. “Or well, not really flesh - more like ghostly body, but you get my point.”

Jem choked out a laugh, turning to look at James and Lucie, then at Mina. “How did this happen, _qin ai de_?”

Mina began a long-winded, lengthy explanation that Tessa mostly tuned out of. Not because she wasn’t curious, or because she didn’t care - just because she was still so shocked that she was having a hard time processing anything. Just knowing that her family was standing in front of her, even when it shouldn’t be possible at all, was enough for her. The _why_ and _how_ of it could come later, as long as she had them back.


End file.
